Elmer e



(No Model.)

E. E. HOLLOWAY.

PIANO TUNING PIN.

No. 416,334.. Patented Deo. 3,l 1889.

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UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMER E. IIOLLOIVAY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

PIANO TUNING-PIN.-

SIPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,334, datedDecember 3, 1889. Application filed March 30, 1889. Serial No. 305,401.(No model.)

To all whom, iv may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER E. HoLLowAY, of Indianapolis, county ofMarion, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Piano Tuning-Pins; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters refer tolike parts.

My invention relates to the construction of devices for stretching thestrings upon pianos, commonly called tuning-pins, and will be understoodfrom the following description.

In the drawings, Figure lisasectional view of my device, on an lenlargedscale, drawn upon the line y y, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is atop view. Fig. 3 isan end view.

In detail, f is the ironframe; st, the strings,

and p a plate fastened by screws upon the top of the frame, as shown inFig. l. This plate has two sockets, one near the outer The larger of thetwo provides a bearing for the round portion r of the lever Z, and thisround portion is grooved, as at g, Fig. 3, to admit the strings. Thestring, coming up from below, over the bridge l), through the agraife a,(the latter being conveniently formed integral with the bridge, as shownin Fig. 1,) passes up over the round r in the groove g, then downwardthrough an opening formed in the lever Z, and upward again from beneathinto a short opening, making a loop, anchoring the string, as shown inFig. l. The smaller socket of the plate p is located directly below theloop in the string, so as to give room for it as the lever is forceddownward in the act of timing.

The rear end of the lever Z has an eye com* posed of an elliptical slotSZ, as shown in Fig. 2. Every alternate one of these levers is longerthan the other, so that the eyes of the lever may not interfere. Throughthis slot passes a screw having a squared head 7L, iiting the opening in,an ordinary tuning-hammer. The screws pass downward, working inthreaded holes in the frame, as shown in Fig. l.

The socket-bearing of the rounded end of the lever Z acts practically asa fulcrum, and the string, passing over the round and down through thislever and up again beneath, as shown, is given a gradual strain,avoiding any short turn and fracture of the bers of the string, and atthe same time provides a secure anchorage and obviates any difficultyoccasioned by the straining of the string about the ordinary pin. Allthat is necessary to do in tuning the piano is to turn with the hammerthe head h of the compressing-screw, and this forces that end of thelever down and the opposite end relatively up, giving a leverage fromthe screw forward to the round r at the opposite and round end of thelever, and this moving gradually in its socket-bearing draws the stringtight and holds it at the precise point desired.

It is well known that the ordinary pin has a long bearing in the frameand the wood backing below it, and that the friction of such bearing isso great that it is difficult to turn the pin, and sometimes the pinitself will twist before it will turn in its socket; hence the pin mustbe turned far enough to allow for the untwisting of the pin, or else thestring will let down or fall below the proper pitch. By my device allsuch disadvantages are remedied, the thread of the screw passing throughthe end of the lever allowing a very slight and gradual strain upon thestring, and by further turns a greater strain is brought upon it, andany degree of pitch may be easily gained and held firmly at the pointdesired.

That I claim as my invention, and desire t0 secure by Letters Patent, isthe following:

l. A piano-tunin g device wherein the string after passing the bridge iscarried over the rounded end of a lever resting in a socket plateconnected to the frame, the opposite end of the lever held in adjustableposition Aby means of a screw passing through such end into the frame,substantially as shown and described.

2. A piano-tuning device comprising a socket-plate p, fastened to theframe f, a lever Z,

having rounded end r, resting in the socket 9 of such plate and slottedat its other extremity, an adjusting-screw passing through such slotinto the frame below and having a squared head h, all combinedsubstantially as shown and described.

3. A pia-no-tu1ii11g device comprising` a 1ever having at one end asocket bearing' upon the frame, a groove to receive the string formed inits periphery, and means, such as an adjusting-screw, passing throughthe opposite end into the frame for adjusting such. lever against thetension of the string, substantially as shown and described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of March,1880.

ELMER E. UOLLOWAY.

Witnesses:

C. P. JAooBs, E. B. GRIFFITH.

